Total Pageviews

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

FERRIS WHEEL SERIES #10/ WIENER RIESENRAD

WIENER RIESENRAD IS NOT THE TALLEST IN THE WORLD (212-FEET) BUT IT IS THE MOST FILMED AND ONE OF THE OLDEST (1897).

Editor’s note: The
following is the tenth in a yearlong monthly series on the world’s mega-sized
Ferris wheels.

At one time the 212-foot
Wiener Riesenrad (German for Vienna Giant Wheel) was the tallest in Europe. It
was constructed in 1897 by the English engineer Walter Bassett Bassett
(1864-1907). Its purpose was to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz
Josef I, and it was one of the earliest Ferris wheels ever built. Bassett's
Ferris wheel manufacturing business was not a commercial success, and he died
in 1907 almost bankrupt.

A
permit for its demolition was issued in 1916, but because of a lack of funds
with which to carry out the destruction, it survived.

It
was built with 30 gondolas, but was severely damaged in World War II and when
it was rebuilt only 15 gondolas were replaced.

The
wheel is driven by a circumferential cable which leaves the wheel and passes
through the drive mechanism under the base, and its spokes are steel cables.

Of
all the big wheels in the world, The Giant Vienna Wheel has the most film
credits.It has appeared in numerous
films, more notable are:

Actor Joseph Cotten in "The Third Man" film, 1949

--The
Third Man (1949)

--1973
spy thriller Scorpio (1973)

--The
1987 James Bond film, The Living Daylights features scenes throughout the
Prater, around the wheel, and a lengthy romantic scene on the wheel.